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How to Increase Your Internal Storage on SHIELD TV

How to Increase Your Internal Storage on SHIELD TV

SHIELD TV users can increase their storage space for apps and games by setting up USB drives (or SD Cards if supported) to replace their current internal storage.

What to know before you get started:

1. When you format an external drive as internal storage, it becomes encrypted to your SHIELD TV and can no longer be used interchangeably with other devices such as personal computers or cameras.

2. Alternatively, you can set up your external drive as removable storage for sharing files, however, you cannot install apps and games to removable storage. If you use a USB drive to share content between SHIELD and a PC, you should set it up as removable storage.

3. When you format an external drive as internal storage, it effectively replaces your current internal storage. You will no longer be able to use storage space on your existing internal storage for installing large game files. As a result, make sure the new storage space is larger than your current internal storage. SHIELD TV Pro (500 GB) users will most likely want to use external drives as removable storage.

4. Only one external storage device can be set up as internal storage at a time.

Note for advanced users: New apps and games will prefer the new storage device for installation unless the app requires the .apk file to install to internal storage. Large .obb files will always install to the new device storage.

Setup Steps:
1. Insert the external storage. If you don't see a pop up, go to Settings > Storage & reset and select the external drive from the list.

2. Select 'Set up as internal storage' to format the storage device. Warning: This will erase any current data on the external drive.

3. Select 'Move now' to complete the set up. This step is mandatory in order to set the new storage as internal storage. It will move data files from internal storage to your new storage device.

Advanced FAQ

Q: I own SHIELD TV Pro and already have 500 GB internal storage. Should I use this feature?
A: If you own SHIELD Pro, it is not recommended to set up an external drive as internal storage since it typically doesn't make sense to replace your 500 GB of storage.

Q: Can I unplug my storage device after formatting as internal storage?
A: This is not recommended since the storage device is formatted to not work with other devices. To safely unplug, first eject from Settings > Storage & reset > Eject. Failure to eject will cause applications to crash.

Q: After formatting as internal storage, an app fails to launch. What can I do?
A: First reboot your SHIELD TV. If the app still fails to launch, go to the Google Play store to see if the app has an update. Open the Google Play Store > My Apps and install any pending updates.

Q: App or game performance is slow. What can I do?
A: Internal storage will provide the fastest performance for apps and games. If you choose to use external storage as internal storage, make sure to use an SD card with a Class 10 speed rating or higher or a USB 3.0 drive. Here are the recommended USB 3.0 flash drives.

Q: Where are the storage locations in a File Explorer?
A: The contents of the current user-defined internal storage can be found at /storage/emulated/0/.
The other storage location can be found as a subfolder named "InternalStorage", "SDCard", "USBStorage", "SanDisk" or such depending on the type of storage.

Q: Does the encryption slow down the read/write speed of my SD card or USB drive?
A: Performance differences between internal storage and SD cards or USB drives should be very minimal as long as a microSD card with a Class 10 speed rating or higher or a USB 3.0 drive is used.

Q: Can I access the encrypted SD card or USB drive by connecting my SHIELD to my PC?
A: Yes. If you set up your SD card or USB drive as internal storage, the contents of the storage can be found at /storage/emulated/0/. The other storage can be found as a subfolder named "InternalStorage", "SDCard", "USBStorage", "SanDisk" or such depending on the type of storage.

Q: Can I change my storage location back to SHIELD internal storage after using this feature?
A: If you have enough free space on SHIELD internal storage, you can move data back to internal storage and start using that location again as the default place for app and game installations. Go to Settings > Storage & reset and select 'Internal Storage. Then select "Move data now."

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